Hi! So, HPKomic asked me if I'd share of what I know about applying for grants to create comic books. There's no single best way to go about it, and I put a lot of thought on how to broach this topic, so I though that I'd start by creating a sort of database of resources that I've used. As I find more, or find open grants, or other people find open grants, I can update this post.

What is a grant?

A grant is, simply, a non-repayable fund given to a non-profit entity, business or individual. Usually, it's a governmental agency that disperses grants (with the "how" varying country to country), but it doesn't have to be. Sometimes, foundations designed to support specific endeavors and corporations (particularly banks and insurance companies) give out grants too. Grants are a major means for live performance-based companies (theaters, dance companies, city orchestras, etc) to survive, but grants DO go to artists and writers too.

How do you get grants?

Well, the simple answer is that you apply for them. It's oftentimes not that much unlike submitting your comic to a publisher; the process varies substantially between grants, it can be time-consuming, and you can oftentimes apply for many grants without hearing anything back at all. There are some tricks of the trade, though, that I'll share with you (in so little as I know from my personal experience with applying for grants):

- Think LOCAL first and foremost. Google search for grants in your hometown or city. Call local banks or insurance companies. Businesses like PNC, Huntington, Nationwide -- they give away millions of dollars in grants every year. Ask to be pointed to local corporate grants and look up the requirements on their website. This is probably the easiest way to get grant money if you do the research.

- Follow instructions! Just like when you submit your comic to publishers, not following instructions when applying for grants will usually get you immediately tossed into the trash. They have a LOT of applications to consider, and the easiest way for them to cut down their workload is to reduce the number of applications that they need to put a lot of thought towards. If they ask for 8 pages of your comic and you give them 6, if they ask for a fully written script and you send them thumbnails, you're wasting your own time.

- Find your newsworthy story. If you've never written a logline before, that's the first place to start. There are various articles out there on this subject, but I love this one the most. Beyond that, you need to consider what about your comic is going to make it appeal to grant-giving entities, and sometimes that requires being a little shrewd. Are you a female or minority creator that expresses your point-of-view through your story? Does your comic book touch on important social issues (particularly equality)? Say so! What makes your comic important to society? As you write your applications, it's important that you are super clear on this message.

- Keep a calendar of deadlines and leads by your workstation. This might seem silly, but most grants only accept applications at certain times of the year and have strict deadlines. Keeping an eye on what applications you need to knock out in a given month, and extending that calendar out a full year, is going to make it easy for you to make applying for grants part of your normal comic upkeep. Remember, the best way to get grants is to apply often, and that includes applying for grants that have looked you over in the past.

- Get out your tax and financial paperwork. The one extra thing that grants are going to ask for that publishers won't is financial information. It's not unlike applying for FAFSA when you go to college in the United States -- they're gonna want to look at your money.

Where do I find grants? (WIP)

I mentioned being on the look out for local grants, as they offer less competition than the big guys. That's something that just requires a bit of Googling, a few phone calls to businesses, and some elbow grease. But here's a short list of grants that I have on my radar that I think are worth looking at applying for:

- The Awesome Foundation. It gives out micro-grants for new ideas. But it gives out a LOT of them. If you're thinking of starting up a side project or new comic, it's a good target.http://www.awesomefoundation.org/

- Creators for Creators. This is a new one, but it's got big money behind it. The application process is very involved, but if you're starting a new project that will last between 64-100 pages, you should definitely start thinking about it.http://creatorsforcreators.org/

- WITS. I've been looking at a move to Seattle, and while this isn't a grant, it is a Fellowship (something of an entirely other subject that I know much less about -- for now). A friend turned me onto it. It's basically an educational writing Fellowship. It's a minimal weekly commitment for a given school year, but does pay out $77 per hour, or $6,500 per year. That's a print run! Definitely worth looking into if you're in Seattle, and (without researching) I'd imagine other cities have similar sorts of programs that you could research.http://www.lectures.org/wits/get_involved.php

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Hopefully this is useful information! I'm happy to chat more in-depth about this stuff, and I'll look to expand this post with more and more information over time.

Ahh, super cool! I heard about a handful of local grants (Toronto/Ontario-centric) during TCAF last year, and kept meaning to try to apply to one, only I never quite got the time; it seems like that's the case for a lot of potential applicants to local grants though, because apparently they rarely have a lot of competition. So many people don't think they're eligible, or don't have time, or just never do the research in general, so sometimes the person who gets the grant is literally the only person who applied.